Ian Malcolm hosts Pickleball Club on Wednesdays in the main gym.
After 57 years of pickleball in Washington state, there is now a pickleball club at Roosevelt High School. Pickleball Club meets on Wednesdays in the gym during lunch.
According to the USA Today and the USA Pickleball website, pickleball was made by three fathers in Bainbridge, Washington who wanted to play badminton but didn’t have all the supplies. Instead, they ended up using ping-pong paddles.
According to USA Pickleball, pickleball includes aspects of badminton, tennis, and ping-pong. On Mar. 28, pickleball was made the official sport of Washington in a bill signed by Gov. Jay Inslee. Since 2020, pickleball’s popularity has grown by 39.3%.
Pickleball Wednesdays at Roosevelt was started by Roosevelt social studies teacher Ian Malcolm. He said that he started the club for fun. He wanted kids to have an entertaining and non-competitive time to play a sport.
Malcolm started playing pickleball in high school and has played it on and off since. “I’ve always loved pickleball, I think it’s a fun sport that’s easy for kids to learn,” he said.
In the past, Malcolm started a ping-pong club — similar to pickleball in that it is easy to learn. He likes starting these clubs so “Kids get to pursue their interests. They get to be themselves.”
When asked if he thought that pickleball should be an official Roosevelt sport, Malcolm said no. He says sports are too competitive and that they’ve “interjected enough competitiveness into our society.”
Anish Gangu, Roosevelt senior, attends pickleball Wednesdays and thinks that pickleball should be a Roosevelt sport “because it’s just fun, and it’s also really easy to learn how to play.”
Gangu added, “The club itself, it’s just a fun place. It’s fun to meet new people and play with them.”
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